Contract tower controllers’ salaries are based
on Department of Labor (DOL) wage rates, which
are lower than the salaries paid to FAA
controllers. For example, based on current DOL
rates, an air traffic controller at a contract
tower near Tampa, FL, would receive base pay of
about $56,000 per year, whereas an FAA-employed
air traffic controller in Sarasota, FL, an area
with similar costs of living, would receive base
pay ranging from about $63,000 to $85,000 per
year, depending on the controller’s experience.
While contract towers continue to operate at a
lower cost than comparable FAA towers, the FAA
has opportunities to improve its oversight of
the contractual and operational aspects of the
FCT Program. OIG’s 1998 review of the FCT
Program found that contract towers were not
staffed in accordance with contractor staffing
plans, raising concerns that the Government was
being billed for services that were not actually
provided.
In response to OIG’s report, the FAA included a
provision in subsequent contracts to enhance
oversight of contractor performance. This
provision requires contractors to submit a
staffing plan that includes the number of
controllers that will work at the tower and the
total annual number of hours those controllers
will work, exclusive of vacation, holiday, and
sick leave.
Once the FAA approves the staffing plan, the
contractors must comply with the staffing levels
and hours of service called for in the plan, and
actual hours worked must be within plus or minus
3 percent of the approved plan. If the
contractor works less than 97 percent of the
hours specified in the contract, the amount paid
to the contractor could be reduced for each hour
not worked.
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